


Fragile

by Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat)



Category: Charmed
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-13
Updated: 2011-04-13
Packaged: 2017-10-18 00:55:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcat/pseuds/Eternal%20Scribe





	Fragile

_You're sick of feeling numb  
You're not the only one  
I'll take you by the hand  
And I'll show you a world that you can understand  
This life is filled with hurt  
When happiness doesn't work  
Trust me and take my hand  
When the lights go out you will understand_ ~~Three Days Grace

 

 _There are many definitions of fragile..._

She faced off with the demon that was advancing on her and her hand twitched slightly.

It had only been a week since her sisters had come into the Penthouse she had shared with Cole. Only a week since she had been forced to choose between her sisters and the evil bastard that had usurped the body of the man she had loved more than her own life. Only a week since the vanquishing spell had destroyed The Source of All Evil -- and her husband, Cole Turner, along with him. Only a week since she had lost almost everything that had been important to her.

Now? Now she hunted.

The demon launched himself at her and Phoebe didn't move. When his nails scraped along her side, she turned into him and shoved her hand forward. As he dug deep gouges in her side, she sliced up with the athame she had held hidden along her arm.

She stumbled back as the demon burst into flames. "For him," she said softly as she watched the demon die.

After the demon exploded, leaving nothing behind, Phoebe wiped the athame off on her jeans, and then put it away. The athame lived in a special sheath she had commissioned from a friend of hers who did leather work. The sheath was worn over her shoulder and along her side. It was perfect for hiding under the leather jacket that she had taken to wearing so often nowadays.

Like the athame, the leather jacket had belonged to him.

She grimaced as she looked down to take in her bloody shirt. That one had gotten a little too close to reaching internal organs with his claws. She should probably get home to her sisters or their whitelighter before too long. She would be in for a lecture about endangering herself needlessly like this. However, she would do what she did everytime one of them said something like that. She would tune out the lecture and nod absently at them.

Then she would go up to the Book of Shadows and do more research.

It might have amused some people to draw comparisons between what she was doing now and what Piper had done right after Prue died. If anyone had said that to her or Piper right now, her sister might have blown them up. Phoebe was volatile right now and both Piper and Paige were seeing a fragility in her that they had never seen before. She was moving through life one day at a time -- if you could call what she was doing living. Her heart and soul were gone, taken when they had lost Cole. Piper couldn't imagine the pain her baby sister was in. Cole had been the love of her life and it haunted all of them that they hadn't been able to come up with a way to save him. To see her baby sister, once known as the one with the largest heart and the most giving and trusting nature of all of the Halliwells, so flat and emotionless was something that cut at her heart deeply. Phoebe was empty now and Piper and Paige didn't know how to help her.

So, Piper would watch Phoebe go out on her hunts and pray that she didn't lose her like she had lost Prue. She just could not lose another sister.

The only weapon Phoebe carried on these hunts of hers was the athame.

Cole's athame.

The athame that was starting to become an anathema to demons and warlocks everywhere. They called the athame Evil's Bane and it was well known that it had once belonged to the demonic soldier of fortune, Belthazor. There were many stories about how a Charmed One had come into possession of the athame. They were mostly false.

For her part? Phoebe didn't care what they thought. What she did know was that she would kill as many demons as she could with Cole's athame. It was her focus. She would make them all pay for what had happened to her love.

They would die for the loss of everything she had held dear.

There were many examples of fragile.

Cole being killed had shown the fragility of the heart and soul.

The demons she killed now were showing how fragile they were when compared to a weapon wielded by someone who felt she had nothing left to lose.

 

Much later that night, Phoebe stumbled downstairs and into her bedroom. She got undressed and slid under the covers. Three demons in six hours. Three demons who thought that without the power of the Source she was helpless. Three demons who turned out to be so very wrong. She was rather battered and bruised, but she welcomed the pain right now. She would rather feel pain than nothing at all. The nothing at all was what she had been feeling inside since she watched Cole be vanquished at the hands of her and her sisters.

She was really good at burying how shattered she felt while she tried to live through each day. She buried her face in Cole's pillow that she had retrieved from the penthouse and hid her tears in the pillow. She couldn't allow anyone to see how upset she still was or else she could never continue going forward with what she was doing. So she buried everything very deep inside and didn't let herself feel it. She had to focus; had to keep on hunting the demons from the Underworld. The physical pain when a demon got in a lucky strike reminded her of what she was doing this for.

If he was here now he would be upset about all of the scars she was starting to pick up -- even with Paige and Leo healing the worst of the wounds she received.

Of course, if he was here, she wouldn't be out doing this. If they had been able to separate The Source from Cole, she wouldn't be out seeking vengeance for him like she was.

  
*******   


He pressed his hand against the bleeding wounds in his side and looked down at them in confusion. Nothing had attacked him for a few days. The beast here wasn't even known for leaving any kind of mark when he attacked. He just attacked and that was it. He either killed you or he didn't. So... why was he bleeding?

This wasn't the first time it had happened and he was beginning to get pissed off.

"If you're going to let me be attacked and wounded you should at least let me see what's attacking me, damn it," he yelled. His voice echoed over the Wastelands and he cursed again. Of course, there was no answer. He really didn't expect one.

He walked along the rocks, keeping off of the sands except when he saw the blue swirls floating above on the sands. Everytime he saw one of those swirls, he jumped into it, feeling power surge up through him. Doing this kept the beast from defeating him. He wasn't ready to let go and die.

Until he could figure out a way to check on his soulmate and make sure she was safe, he couldn't move on.

He remembered being trapped in his own body and watching through the Source's eyes as Phoebe helped her sisters recite the vanquishing spell that would destroy the Source. He watched as Phoebe's sisters had to help support her to keep her on her feet as she took part in the spell.

"I'm sorry, baby" he could hear her whisper. "I am so sorry."

The Source had been shocked. He hadn't believed that Phoebe would ever have pulled away from his control to stand with her sisters. He couldn't believe that she would actually vanquish the man she loved. He had underestimated Phoebe and her sisters. Her sisters had been able to break through his and the Seer's control to show her that the man running the show was not in fact Cole. The Source's main mistake had been in assuming that Phoebe would ever believe that Cole would have harmed her sisters -- no matter what. When The Source had decided to try to kill her sisters, that was when he had lost possession of Phoebe.

He sat down on a stone cliff to rest and he buried his face in his hands.

"Phoebe," he whispered. "Phoebe, I love you."

That would be when he felt something wet dripping down his face. He put his hand up to his face and when he pulled it back down to look at what was there, his eyes widened. His fingers were now coated in what appeared to be blood.

"What the hell is going on?"

  
*******   


The knife sliced across her cheek as she tried to get out of the way. She tumbled sideways and the energy ball caught her in the chest, knocking her into the wall. She gasped out in pain, but wasn't able to get up. The demon came and stood over her, and then smiled down at her.

"Your luck has run out, witch," he said as he summoned another energy ball, only to cry out and stumble back as Phoebe shoved the athame up and into him.

"Not yet it hasn't," she gasped out as he exploded. She had just grabbed the athame when something came down hard on the back of her head and she crumpled.

The second demon reached down and jerked her up by the back of her neck, throwing her across the street like she was a rag doll. He watched as she hit and was satisfied that she was unconscious. He stalked to her and lifted her up by the throat, a triumphant smile on his face. "Game over, Charmed One," he snarled, conjuring an athame to his other hand.

"Yeah, for you," a new voice said. "Athame!"

The athame disappeared from his hand and he turned around to see two other women running towards him and the unconscious witch. The one with the longer hair flicked her hands and he expoded into tiny particles.

Paige and Piper finished running to Phoebe's side and they crouched beside her.

"Leo!" Piper screamed as she took in the massive bleeding of her sister. "Leo!"

Leo materialized and he uttered a curse when he saw what condition Phoebe was in. "She is going to get herself killed if she doesn't stop this," he warned Piper as he worked on healing his charge.

"She lost the love of her life, Leo," Piper said quietly. "If it was you..."

"But it wasn't." He sighed, gathering Phoebe up. "Let's get her home so I can heal her easier and without the threat of more demons arriving."

  
*******   


Phoebe looked in the mirror at the scar that was now on her cheek right above her chin. It was one more scar that she had gained in this private little war she was fighting against the Underworld. Paige could probably heal it the rest of the way if she let her, or they could glamour it away. However, like the others, she was wearing it as a badge right now. Seeing the scars reminded her of everything she had lost and what she was doing this for. She traced the scar in the mirror slowly, watching her eyes. She didn't even recognize the person she saw looking out at her any longer. The pain shining in those eyes in the mirror were so different than who she used to be, her eyes were ringed with black circles that made it look like she never slept. So much had changed in the last few weeks.

She turned quickly from the mirror and went into her bedroom. Her gaze fell on the teddy bear, one of the gifts he had bought for her and tears filled her eyes. His name echoed in the black stillness of her mind and with a shiver of vivid recollection, she remembered the aftermath of what had happened at the Penthouse. The tears slipped down her face as the images raced unbidden through her memory.

"Cole..."

  
*******   


The pain slammed into him, jerking him out of his reverie.

 _"Cole..."_

He heard his name spoken with such desolation and longing that he knew it could only be coming from one person.

"Phoebe."

Cole got to his feet and looked around him. There was no one else there, and then he felt that pain again. Tears sprung to his eyes. "Oh sweetheart..." She was in so much pain and he wasn't sure what he could do to ease it for her. More than anything, he wanted to make her pain go away.

That was when he saw another demon fall from the sky. This was someone he recognized. It was a dream shaper. He was a demon that was able to get into another person's dreams or nightmares and shape them to his will. Cole stepped into the blue swirls of the vanquished demon's power without hesitation. And now, he would be able to do the same thing.

Of course, there was only one thing he wanted to do with that power and that was to visit Phoebe and find out exactly what was going on with her and how he could help her.

 

When it happened, it took Cole a few moments to realize where he was. It wasn't until he saw the penthouse confrontation and realized that Phoebe didn't see him that he understood he had indeed made it into her dreams. He wasn't there to try to change anything or form any images. He wasn't about to mess with her mind like that -- not hers and especially after everything she had already been through while under the control of The Source and the Seer. No, right now he was here to gain information.

He clenched his fists as he witnessed what happened with the Seer and he bit back a snarl at the pain that Phoebe went through at her hands. Pain shot through him as he watched the baby taken from Phoebe, and then he had a moment of grim satisfaction when the baby's power destroyed all that were in that chamber.

And that was when everything changed.

Phoebe had his athame and she seemed determined to use it to wage a one woman war against the Underworld.

"Oh love... oh no. You cannot do this."

When he saw how many times she was getting hurt and all of the injuries she was sustaining, he finally understood where the strange marks and bleeding wounds that were manifesting on him were coming from.

Someone was trying to tell him something.

He counted every scar and every injury that she was taking on and he knew that he had to put a stop to this. He wasn't sure how, but he had to get out of the Wastelands and back to Phoebe. She needed him -- before she ended up causing her own death.

When he saw the most recent battle and how close she had come to being killed, he clenched his fists. He would never let her be lost -- and not like this.

Finding himself back in the Wastelands after his visit to Phoebe's dreams and memories, Cole paced. He was determined to get out of here and get back to Phoebe's side. She needed him. She needed him and he needed to protect her from herself, it seemed.

For the next couple of days he paced --and snarled in frustration and worry every time a new wound manifested itself on him. Now that he knew where they were coming from, he was worried. The fact that they were happening more often caused his worry to blossom into fear. How could he get out of here and help --

Piper!

He could get into Piper's dreams and convince her that he needed her help to get out of here so he could help Phoebe. She had to help him help Phoebe, right? Niether one of them wanted to lose her.

***

When Piper started dreaming that night, she wasn't expecting her sister's dead husband to show up in her dreams.

"Cole? What the hell?"

"I need your help, Piper."

Piper crossed her arms. "Help with what?"

"I need help getting out of the Wastelands so I can come back."

"Excuse me?"

"Phoebe needs me, Piper," he said quietly. "You know she does. You've seen what she's doing. If I don't figure out a way to get back to her, she's going to end up dead."

Piper sighed, staring at him. "Having to vanquish the Source and losing you with him, and then losing the baby broke something in her, Cole. I don't know if bringing you back where you're a ghost is going to help her or hurt her."

"If I can get out of the Wastelands, Piper, I won't be a ghost. I'll be alive again." He ran a hand through his hair. "She needs me, Piper, you know I'm right."

"I don't know how to do something like this, Cole."

"But you can try, right? Look in the Book of Shadows, talk to Leo?" He sighed. "She needs me and I need her."

Piper let out a breath. "I'm not making any promises, Cole," she said finally. "I'll see what I can find out. But I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for my sister."

"I know."

"Do you? Because I don't think you do. I love my sister, Cole, and everything that has happened has destroyed the girl I grew up with. I want her back, but I don't know whether helping you come back from the dead is going to help or hinder that."

"I love her, Piper. I had no control over what the Source did. I never would have done all of that to Phoebe -- to any of you."

"Is he gone?"

"Is who gone?"

Piper looked at him. "The Source?"

"He's no longer a part of me," he assured her. "The spell you guys cast took care of that."

"Can you be absolutely positive of that?"

"Yes," he said firmly. "I can."

"Then I'll see what I can do to help you. Don't make me regret this, Cole."

"I won't, Piper. I swear to you. I love her and only want her happy and safe."

"As much as I shouldn't, I do believe you mean that. I've never seen her as in love with someone, or as happy with someone as she is when she's with you."

Cole looked relieved. "I don't want to lose her again, Piper. I really don't want to lose her to death."

"Like I said, I'll do my best to help get you out of the Wastelands and back here."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. I may not be able to get you out of there."

"I'm confident that you will."

***

Phoebe stared at the demon that was facing off with her. His knife was shiny with the blood that he had already drawn on her. Her shoulder was on fire from the attack, but she wasn't backing down.

"Don't you know when to quit, witch?"

She moved Cole's athame to her other hand. "I'm not a quitter." Her voice was a flat snarl. "I never quit."

"Then you will die," he said, spinning and throwing the knife at her. At the same time, he let loose an energy ball in her direction.

Phoebe screamed out in pain as the knife entered her shoulder and then the energy ball sent her flying into a wall. As she fought to stay conscious and act through the pain, she heard a growl of rage and then the demon who had attacked her was suddenly engulfed in flame. She felt strong arms gather her up and she blinked through the blurriness of her vision.

"Cole?" she questioned weakly.

"I'm here, sweetheart. I've got you, you're safe now."

"But... but how?" She was trying to make sense of this. "You're dead... I had to help vanquish The Source and he took you with him."

"I was trapped in the Wastelands. Piper and Paige helped get me out of there so I could protect you."

"Am I dead?"

"What?" Cole's voice sounded horrified. "No, Phoebe. You're alive. Hurt, but very much alive. I'm going to take you to the Manor so Leo can heal you."

Phoebe reached a hand up to touch his face. "I love you," she said, before closing her eyes and losing consciousness.

Cole stared down at her for a long moment as he cradled her against his chest. He was torn between being touched at the war she had waged on his behalf, and horrified at how close she had come to death so many times. He tightened his arms around her as he shimmered to the Halliwell Manor.


End file.
